Mozart's best-known opera Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) opened a series of new productions at the 2012 Salzburg Festival. Legendary maestro Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducted his orchestra, the Concentus Musicus Wien, performing the Salzburg Festival's first-ever presentation of Die Zauberflöte on period instruments. "It is not only a first for Salzburg, but also for Nikolaus Harnoncourt to perform this work in this sound-world in Salzburg, together with Concentus Musicus, bringing his entire life’s experience to bear on this production, and I am infinitely grateful to him for this gift." - Alexander Pereira, director of the Salzburg Festival